Improvement in circular-knitting machines



PATENTED FEB. 1

W. FRANZ & W. POPE. GIRGULAR KNITTING MAOHINE.

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; in each of thefigures. Our improvements relate tocircular-knitting STATES PATENT OFFIC WILLIAMFRAEZ Ann WILLIAM POPE, or GRESTIJINE, OHlO.

[IMPROVEMENT m clacuLnamnrr'rme MACHINES. t

. I I Specification formingpart of Letters Patent No. 9?,496. dated February 1 1870.

"To all whomitmay concern:

Be it knownthatwe, WILLIAM FRANZ and WILLIAM POPE, off Gre'stline, in the county of Crawford andf state'of- Ohio, have invented certain new andnselul Improvements in Knitting-Machines; and wedo herebydeclare that Fig. 2 is a vertical section of part of the machine. Fig. 3 is-a vertical section of the cylinders and otherv part-s, showing the mode of securing parts of the machine. Fig. dis an elevation of a needle. Fig.7 is a side view of .the thread-carrier, the lower eye beingshown:

in section.

v Similar letters of referenc machines; and our invention consistsg'first, in

attaching the thread-carrier to a separatelyrevolving or oscillating cogged ring separate from the camcylinder,whi ch, in our machine, is operated by the ring and not directly by the usual driving mechanism; second,fin GOlll- 'munrcating motion from the ringit'o the cylinder by means of lugs, which permit a certain amount of motlonto the ring before the cylinder is caused" to move; third, in the mode of attaching the ring, bed-plate, and cams, and needle-cylinders; fourth, in the construction and arrangement of the thread-guide, threadcarrier, and take-up spring.

. Special peculiarities of construction and er ran'gement of the parts will be set forth in the following specification and claims.

The needles and their mode of operation arethe same as those commonly employed. in other machines, and therefore need not be herein fully described, as all those who are skilled in the art of making and operating knitting-ma chines would be familiar-with them.

A in the d rawings represents the cylinder,

' upon shoulders, formed on the inner side of which the shanks b of the .needlesare' supported. This cylinder revolves with the ring B, on which: it rests. The base of the cylin-- 'Qder is formed, as shown in Fig.3, with a notch,

d,to fltgpver the inner edge of the ring B, to,

confine it in place, and an inwardly-projecting 6 indicate like' pa-rts flange, R,extending into a recess-in the lower end of the needle-cylinder Q; the said several parts, when thus constructed, -i being securedto the bed-plate P by screws g passing into the lower end of the needle-cylinder. The ring B turns in a recessin-the bed-plate, and is 7 supported. therein by-meansof a flange'prd jecting; from it into a depression in'the bedplate, as shown at (3 in Fig. 3. The'ring-B is actuated by a crank, l and beveled pinion, the latter meshinginto corresponding teeth in thelower face of the rin The cylinder. A?

resting upon" the ring and bed-plate, is made to turn with the'ring, when one of the lugs F or G on its upper face engages the lug H on the cylinder. While! the cylinder-A is being revolved constantly in one direction in knitting circular I goodsg'one lug on the bed-plate bears constantlyiagainst the lug H, but in knitting flat goodsthe cylinder A receives a reciprocating rotary-movement alternately in each direction, andin this case, ,in order that the thread-carrier 0, attached to the ring B midway between the lugs, may havethe necessary movement before the action of the nee.-

dles commences,- the lugs F and G are set at such a distance-on each side of it that the ac tion of the inclined cam shall commence only when the threadcarrier is in the proper position relatively to the cams, at which instant the lug on the cylindenengaged by that on the ring, causes the cylinder torbegin to revolve therewith.' The inside ofthe cylinder A base shoulder, (shown in Fig. 3,).which presents-a horizontal surface on-which the needles rest without being moved vertically, but this shoulder falls away, as shown in Fig. 2', forming two inclined planes, first descending,

to permit the needles to drop in passing over the descending incline, and then. to. rise in traversing the ascending inclination. At each end of the cam K transverse slots are made in the cam-cylinder in which the sliding guides D and E work, and which are so operated upon by the thread-carrier that in revolving the cam-cylinder in one direction or the other the forward guide'shall be projected inward toward the needlecylinder, while the rear guide is retracted into'the cam-cylinder, so as tobe flush with the bottom of its groove. The oflice or theseguides is to throw up the needles, to

seize the thread for making a new stitch, and;

immediately on leavin it are forced down again by the face of the triangular cam J. The

needles having been drawn down to make the stitch, are again raised by theascendingface of the lower.-cam,-and,on passing the other guide, which, as stated, does not now project into the cam-groove, are again supported upon the horizontal shoulder of the cam-cylinder. The sliding guides D and E extend outward through the cam-cylinder,and their external ends are beveled otf in opposite-directions, and 1 the two connected by a rigid bar, D, which is centrally pivoted upon the set-screw M. The length off-the sliding guides is such that, on their extreme outer ends being struck by the thread-carrier, one will be forced inward far enough to act upon the shanks of the needles,

, while the other one is drawn out so as to be flush with the bottom of the cam-groove. The

length or looseness of the stitch is regulated by the distance between the-faces of the cams J and K, and this is controlled by the set-screw I M, which passes through suitable lugs 5n the surface of the cylinder A, and through a female screw in the arm N, which extends from the cam J outwardly through a vertical slot in the cylinder A. By turning the, set-screw the cam J will be raised 'or lowered, the former movement shortening the stitches, and the latter lengthening them. The threadcarrier O is attached to the guard-ring B midway between the lugs F G, and they are fixed at a distance from the carrier on each side equal .to the entire distance from the center of the cam K to the top. of the sliding guides D E, so that,

in reversing the motion in knitting heelsand toes, or in knitting flat goods, the thread-carrier shall be in ,a'position opposite, or nearly the rest of them raised, the thread, by being heldtout of a line drawn from the lower eye to when only part of the needles are in use and Witnesses! V the eye in the thread-guide T, will be prevented from engaging with the books of those not in use. T is the thread-guide,...through ,the eyes in which the thread passes. The take.up spring S is an elastic wire, coilgd up-at one end, and having a hook on the other end,- through which the thread passes. The-elasticity of the spring serves to maintain the proper tension of the'thread, While the eyes in the end of the rigid arm T maintain it constantly in its. proper position over the center of the circle in which the needles are placed, and around which the thread-carrier revolves.

The device for setting up the work is shownat U in Figs. 5 'and 6; but no claim is here made to it, as it forms the subject of a separate application, hereafter to be filed.

- Having thus described our invention, what we claim is-- 1. The combination, with the cylinder A and detached cogged ring B, of-the thread-carrier G, attached to the latter, 'ahd revolving a regulated distance independently of the cylinder; and all constructed substantially as set forth.

2. In combinationwith the cylinder A, previded with the lug H, the detached cogged ring B, having lugs F G so placed that the ring may be revolved through a portion of its arc of oscillationindependently of and without communicatingmbtion to the cylinder A,

substantially as described.

' 3. Thecoinbination of the cylinders A and Q, detached 'cogged ring B, and bed-plate P,

when constructed andarranged in relation to each other substantially as set forth. 4. The arrangement, in relat'o'n to each other and to thdcenterofirotatio of the machine,

of the thread-carrier 0, provided with thetwo.

eyes, as described, the thread-guide T, and

take-up spring S, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of the cam K, adjustable cam J, sliding guides D and E, and threadcarrier (J, all constructed and operating substantially as set forth. r I

Signed this 15th day of January, 4. D. 1870, in. the presence of two'subscribing witnesses.

' WM. FRANZ.

' WM. POPE.

JOSEPH-R. Enson, D. P. HOLLOWAY. 

